Reinforcement means for book-binders&#39; boards



REINFORCEMENT MEANS FOR BOOKBINDERS' BOARDS Filed May 31, 1938 .ELgl.

1N VENTOR EEUEHE Kirs ce ATTORNEY.

Patented Oct. 10, 1939 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE REINFORCENIENT MEANS FOR BOOK- 3 Claims.

This invention relates generally to the art of book binding and more particularly to means for reinforcing the corners of books.

It is the usual practice in binding books to provide covers which extend beyond the outer margins of the bound pages of the book. This form of construction leaves the edges and corners of the covers unreinforced and particularly unsuited for withstanding sudden impact such as is often caused by the rough handling of books. Since the covers are usually made of book binders board (a cardboard) covered with cloth, leather, paper, or a combination of these materials, the corners of books soon .become damaged, becoming bent inwardly toward the edges of the pages.

Various means have been devised for reinforcing the corners of books but all such means with which I am familiar take the form of a corner member which is affixed over the book corner. This type of reinforcement means is a disadvantageous means of accomplishing the desired result in that the reinforcement corners are in the nature of anaccessory to the book itself and cannot conveniently be incorporated into the binding during the process of book binding.

Another disadvantage of the ordinary type of reinforcement corner is that each member constitutes a protrusion, thus making the book irregular in outline and unnecessarily bulky. Furthermore, the ordinary reinforcement member often mars surfaces such as desk tops, tables, and shelving surfaces. against which the book is brought into contact.

It is also a disadvantage of the ordinary reinforcement member which is afiixed to the outside of a book cover that the member often works loose or becomes entirely detached from the book and thus loses its effectiveness.

Therefore it is a primary object of this invention to provide means for reinforcing the corners of book covers which may be incorporated in the binding during the process of binding the book. In this connection it is an object to provide a reinforcement member designed to be affixed directly to the binder board and to be subsequently covered by the cover material over the board so that when the book is completely bound the reinforcement member is not visible and does not form a protrusion or bulge on the bound book.

It is a further object of this invention to provide an inexpensive reinforcement member which may be easily applied to the binder board during the process of binding.

It is also an object of this invention to provide a reinforcement member which, when incorpo- (Cl. 2s1-37) rated into the binding of the book cannot work loose or become ineffective and cannot mar any surfaces which the book may contact. It is also an object of this invention to provide a thin reinforcement member so constructed as to provide the necessary strength to adequately reinforce the corner of the cover of the book and which will not interfere in any way with the ordinary binding of the book.

These and other objects will be apparent from g the drawing and the following description thereof. Referring to the drawing which is for illustrative purposes only,

Fig. 1 is a plan view of the inside corner of a book cover showing the cloth cover margins and the lining turned back to expose the corner of the binder board and to show the reinforcement member of this invention affixed to the corner of the board.

Fig. 2 is a view similar to Fig. 1 but showing the cloth cover and the lining secured in position over the reinforcement member as they would appear in the bound book.

Fig. 3 is a sectional View taken on line 33 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is a perspective view of a preferred form of reinforcement member. 5

Fig. 5 is a perspective view of a modified form of reinforcement member. More particularly describing the invention, reference numeral II generally indicates the cover of a book which has been shown fragmentarily as the inside upper left hand corner of the front cover. The paper lining 12 on the inside of the cover has been turned back to expose the corner binder board l3. At the corner the margins or flap portions of the cover cloth l4 have been turned back at M to expose the binder board l3.

As pointed out above, it is an object of this invention to provide a reinforcement member which is designed to be affixed directly to the binder board and accordingly there is illustrated a preferred form of reinforcement member, designated by reference numeral l5, affixed to the inside surface at the corner of the binder board l3. Referring to Figures 1, 3 and 4, this member comprises a thin right angle plate I6, preferably of metal, having a diagonally disposed depressed rib 11 approximately bi-secting the right angle of the plate. Preferably the plate is formed of two leg portions l8 connected by the rib ll. Each of the legs is perforated at 20, the perforations being surrounded by downwardly projecting serrated fianges 2| adapted to be forced into the binder board when the reinforcement member is aflixed thereto. The ends i8 of the leg portions are substantially parallelly disposed as shown.

The reinforcement member I5 is affixed to the inside surface at the corner of the binder board by pressing thereon in any suitable manner so as to force the depressed rib ll into the board and to force the serrated flanges 2| into the board. The forward end of the rib I! may be pointed at [1' so that it will bite into the binder board when the reinforcement member is pressed thereon. The member is preferably spaced inwardly slightly from the edges of the board as indicated in Figs. 1 and 2 so there will be no possibility of the outer edges of the member I5 cutting the cloth cover member [4 when the same is secured in place over the reinforcement member. When the reinforcement member [5 is forced or pressed into the binder board the binder board comes up through the holes 20 as indicated in Fig. 3. This construction provides adequate affixing means for the reinforcement member and also provides additional binder board area for pasting or gluing the cloth cover to the board in the region of the reinforcement member. In this connection the cut out portion 19 also serves to expose additional area of the binder board to the cloth cover which is afiixed over the reinforcement member IE to the binder board.

After the member 15 has been pressed into position on the board the book may be bound in the ordinary way by turning over and securing the margins of the cloth cover [4 and securing the lining l2 thereupon. This completely covers the reinforcement member [5, as indicated in Fig. 3.

With a reinforcement member constructed as illustrated in Figures 1-4, adequate reinforcement against bending of the corners inwardly is provided by the rib I! which reinforces the member [5 against bending on any line at approximately right angles to the groove. In this connection the member l5 should be of a size so that the bound pages of the book will extend over approximately the inner third portion of the member as indicated by broken line 22 in Fig. 2 which indicates the outer limit of the bound pages of the book.

In Fig. 5 a modified form of the invention is shown wherein a reinforcement member 150, is formed of a thin plate 23, preferably of metal, having a diagonally disposed depressed rib 24 ending in a pointed portion 25. As in the other form of the invention the plate forms two leg portions 26 on opposite sides of the rib. Each of the leg portions is perforated at 21, the perforated portions having a downwardly projecting serrated flange 21'. In this form of the invention the ends 26 of the legs are substantially at a right angle to the side edges of the leg portions.

The term binder board has been used herein in a general sense to include all types of material which may be used in providing a stiffening sheet for the book covers, such as cardboard or the like, and it is not intended to be limited to such material as defined by the term binder board as technically used in the trade.

Although certain particular forms of the invention have been shown and described, it is not intended to limit the invention thereby, and it is intended to cover such changes as come within the scope of the claims. In this connection the reinforcement member might be used in connection with other styles of binding than that shown in the drawing and it also might be used on the outer surfaces of the binder board instead of on the inner surface as shown. When used on the outer surface the reinforcement member would be covered by the cover of the book and would not be visible.

I claim as my invention:

1. A reinforcement member for use in combination with cardboard, or the like, comprising: a stiff plate having two edges disposed at a right angle and having a depressed rib extending diagonally across said plate from said right angle.

2. A reinforcement member for use in combination with cardboard, or the like, comprising: a stiff plate having two edges disposed at a right angle and having a depressed rib extending diagonally across said plate from said right angle, said plate having an aperture on each side of said rib and having a downwardly extending serrated flange around each of said apertures.

3. A reinforcement member adapted to be affixed to the inner surface of the binder board of a book binding comprising: a right angle metal plate having a diagonally disposed depressed rib, said plate forming leg portions on opposite sides of said rib, said leg portions each having an aperture therein and having a downwardly extending serrated flange surrounding each aperture, said leg portions having substantially parallel end edges.

GEORGE KIRSTE. 

